In 2012, Tesla launched the Model S. One of its most striking elements was its touch screen 17-inch center console, which controlled almost everything, from the climate control to the GPS. In 2017, Tesla goes a little further with the Model 3 and eliminates any type of button and even the instrument panel. Suddenly, all brands fill their cars with touch screens removing buttons.
But this trend could have peaked. Since there are quite a few brands that are backing down, such as Hyundai that will not eliminate the most used physical buttons because that is simply what customers prefer.
Ultimately, it is not practical and can even be annoying.
Tesla’s genius consisted in making everyone, customers and industry, believe that controlling everything from a touch screen was much more modern and efficient than the old physical buttons, when in reality it has always been a trick to lower the cost of the car. . It is a way for the brand to save a huge amount of money by eliminating all physical buttons, their associated mechanisms and control modules, which can also fail, and bundling everything into software.
It is simply brilliant, but in practice it has its limits. Although it may make sense on a smartphone, a tablet or even a computer, as it allows a larger screen, this is not the case when one is driving.
If we drive, we have to pay attention to the road, not to point on the screen at the icon we are looking for, so as not to increase the volume instead of lowering the temperature, or look for which menu is the direction of the air conditioning flow. Change the temperature on a touch screen It usually requires more touches and more time than turning a simple physical control, which we can also find on the dashboard without practically taking our eyes off the road.
Hyundai also wanted to propose Tesla-style touch screens, like all brands, often replacing the buttons that had historically controlled features like the air conditioning and radio.
However, on the occasion of the launch of the current Hyundai Kona, the Korean brand promised to maintain physical buttons and dials in its vehicles in the near future. Its current range, which includes the Hyundai Ioniq 5, features more analogue controls.
This change of course is not solely due to safety or profitability reasons, Hyundai explains. To a large extent, this is something that American customers found annoying. “When we tested our control group, we realized that the people get stressed, upset and angry “When you want to control something at a given moment and you can’t do it.” explica Ha Hak-sooVice President of Hyundai Design North America.
In addition to being irritating, having everything on one screen is also more dangerous. And it simply takes longer to find what you are looking for. And in that time We look at the screen and the car continues to advance hundreds of meters. on the highway, or we are already on top of the traffic light or the pedestrian crossing in the city.
Hyundai is not the only brand that does not rely on touch screens as a central element of interior design. Mazda uses common sense by limiting the use of touchscreens because they are potentially dangerous, while for DS, a touchscreen is not a sufficiently distinctive element to be the centerpiece in a luxury interior. Even at Bugatti they don’t want touch screens, because it is simply something that will be seen as outdated in the future, while an analogue interior can be timeless, like a watch.
However, this may all change as driver assistance technology and autonomous driving advance. In the future, “the feeling of relaxation behind the wheel will increase, and the interior design will have to provide greater comfort,” says Ha.
For him, as drivers have to concentrate less on the road and take their feet off the pedals, the interiors will again be redesigned to adapt to those changes. They could then be more refined and controlling basic functions with a screen will no longer be a problem.
Source: www.motorpasion.com
